


A Channel You're Subscribed to has Just Uploaded a New Video

by Anonymous



Series: Tonight, We Stole the Show [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Music, Alternate Universe - Music YouTubers, Alternate Universe - Youtubers, Autistic Chara, Autistic Character, Autistic Tsukishima Kei, Background Iwaizumi Hajime, M/M, Mentioned Akaashi Keiji, Mentioned Bokuto Koutarou, Minor Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Slow Burn, Snapshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-08-31 18:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8589832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The first time Tsukishima Kei uploaded a video to YouTube, it was badly filmed, with an awkward camera.
  
  When Kuroo Tetsurou uploaded a video to YouTube for the first time, he was 16, and thought his band was hardcore. 
 Tsukishima and Kuroo are both musician YouTubers; Tsukishima prefers the guitar his brother got him for his 15th birthday, whereas Kuroo prefers the loud, electric guitar he managed to buy with left overs of his part time paycheck.Kuroo has always been a subscriber to Tsukki Sings, and even with the channel's quick growth, Kuroo is always happy to see Tsukki staying grounded with his channel.Tsukki doesn't even know Kuroo Jams is a channel that exists.   A short snapshot story of Tsukishima and Kuroo making their way with their YouTube careers, maybe balancing a relationship on their feelings, and maybe, just maybe making it to where they want to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just sort of a large summary to the story~

The first time Tsukishima Kei uploaded a video to YouTube, it was badly filmed, with an awkward camera. The audio was the best quality it could be, and it sounded pretty alright he thought. He was only 14 years old, and singing was his passion. His guitar was old and beaten up, but it played like a beauty, and his voice went along with it. He’d sung some English song that was famous in Europe, and he didn’t quite understand what all the words meant, but he learnt it and sung it anyway.  
  
The first time Tsukishima Kei uploaded a video to YouTube, the ratings didn’t too badly; he got 72 views overall and five or six likes. There was one dislike, and he would have earned 10 cents from monetisation if he had been 18 and could monetise. He didn’t know how much 10 cents was.  
  
The first time Tsukishima Kei uploaded a video to YouTube, he was proud of what he’d produced and had proudly shown Yamaguchi Tadashi on their lunch break when it was raining and they couldn’t go outside.  
  
The first time Tsukishima Kei uploaded a video to YouTube, he was bullied by his class mates. He was ridiculed continuously, called a song bird rather than his name. They’d ask condescending questions, and make ‘requests’ for his channel.  
  
The first time Tsukishima Kei uploaded a video to YouTube, he took it down a mere week later, heartbroken.

 

\-----

 

When Kuroo Tetsurou uploaded a video to YouTube for the first time, he was 16, and thought his band was hardcore. He though they’d be as big as bands like Spyair, but they only got 12 views and 3 dislikes. His band wasn’t quite as big as he hoped; the singer’s voice was still cracking on certain notes. His guitar playing was enough to carry them but he knew it wouldn’t hold them long after how the first video went.  
  
When Kuroo Tetsurou uploaded a video to YouTube for the first time, he thought they would make an imprint in the music genre, but his band was just another wannabe band that went unnoticed. The song he had written wasn’t that great and it didn’t do much to show off the band’s talents.  
  
When Kuroo Tetsurou uploaded a video to YouTube for the first time, he took it down after three weeks and 14 dislikes, and only 2 likes. He had been heartbroken.

 

-xox-

 

Tsukishima Kei was 15 when his brother came home and surprised him with a brand new guitar, a late birthday present. His old love for music, still fractured from the bullying he had endured, came back a little more. He played it late into the night until the neighbours began to complain about the gentle strums that kept them from sleep.  
  
Tsukishima Kei was 15 when he uploaded his second video to a new channel. He duetted with his brother – both of them having singing skills. Whereas Kei had trained his voice, taking singing lessons with the money he earned from doing his chores, Akiteru had chosen to play volleyball. Kei practised his guitar whenever he got a spare chance, but he never spoke of his music at school.  
  
The video he had done with Akiteru got over 100 views, and had over 20 likes, and only 1 dislike. The song, _No Air_ , a collaboration that hadn’t really spiked well in the Japanese charts, was well liked by the YouTube community and many people commented that they’d done well.  
  
Tsukki Sings had gained three subscribers, and for the first time in just over a year, Tsukishima felt his love for music return slowly.

 

\-----

 

Kuroo Tetsurou was 17 when he went on Twitter one day, bored from studying. He was browsing through the timeline, doing the best to ignore the spoilers of the latest episode of his favourite anime that he just hadn’t been bothered to watch yet. A video popped up; a video of two rather good looking blond boys with a guitar. Kuroo had hesitated before he clicked on it, opening it on full screen.

  
_Hi guys; I’m Tsukki, this is my brother and we wanted to just sing a song for you guys._  
  
Kuroo had watched the video, taken aback by the boy’s – _Tsukki’s_ – singing voice. His pitch was astounding and he had control over his voice. His brother didn’t quite have the same skills, but his voice was still nice to listen to.  
  
Kuroo watched the video a few times, and then headed onto the YouTube app. He found the video with ease.  
  
Finding himself inspired, Kuroo had gotten his acoustic guitar out, setting up his laptop – with his good microphone – to film a quick acoustic cover. His voice was huskier now, but it still sung acoustic songs well, giving them a new sound.  
  
Kuroo Tetsurou was 17 when he subscribed to the _Tsukki Sings_ channel.

 

-xox-

 

When Tsukishima Kei started high school at the age of 16, the three-time a week uploads to _Tsukki Sings_ stopped. They became twice a week, occasionally once every week. When he decided to start the volleyball club, having played all the time with Akiteru, his uploads changed to once a week, sometimes once every two weeks.  
  
Tsukishima’s Twitter was constantly going off, asking him to cover certain songs, asking him to do collaborations with other YouTubers, and people asking when the next update was going to be uploaded.  
  
When he walked into the volleyball club for the first time, his mood towards it soured when the silver-haired setter gasped upon seeing him. He’d been asked if he was Tsukki, and upon clarification, the third year had actually asked to take a selfie with him.  
  
Of all 273 subscribers the channel had, Tsukishima hadn’t thought that there would be any fans in Japan; definitely not in Miyagi, and _definitely_ not in volleyball club.  
  
When word went around the school that Tsukishima was a YouTube music star, his videos began getting shared across social networks, group chats, and were even discussed in classes. Tsukishima often found himself tensing when he heard his channel mentioned, especially in a whispered conversation when he passed people in the hall.  
  
When Tsukishima Kei started high school at the age of 16, he found he wished the reaction to his YouTube channel had been the same as junior high.

 

\-----

 

When Kuroo Tetsurou started his third year in high school, now 18 years old, he had just broken 300 subscribers on YouTube. He walked through the corridors, and people would point at him, and whenever heard the words _guitar_ or _YouTube_ , he couldn’t help but smile. His upload schedule changed again, having no specific day – with exams and final tests, volleyball practice and games, Kuroo often found himself filming when he first got in from school. He would do the work he needed to and then could be found editing his video up until the early hours of the morning before uploading it.  
  
More people came to see Nekoma play games, and walking around Tokyo became hazardous. Kuroo would be stopped constantly; he couldn’t even nip to the shops for his Mother without fans squealing, and asking for pictures.  
  
Kuroo found that his inspiration seemed to be fractured, a struggle to play guitar and sing once a week. Tsukki had stopped uploading as frequently and Kuroo remembered from his most recent vlog that he would be starting high school.  
  
Tsukki being 16 was not something that Kuroo would have expected, but here they were.  
  
When Kuroo got home from school one day, he had seen the selfie of a fan with Tsukki going around Twitter; he realised that Tsukki went to Karasuno High School, and was on the volleyball team.  
  
Kuroo looked up at his calender, where there was an orange ring around that week’s Saturday – a practice match against Karasuno Volleyball Club.  
  
Kuroo blew his final exam study he had planned to do that night and had spent the whole evening recording four videos to schedule.  
  
When Kuroo Tetsurou started his third year in high school, now 18 years old, the _Subscriptions [9]_ – _Tsukki Sings [1]_ still made something in his chest spark with joy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Tsukki and his brother sing is [No Air](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE-vp5H_maE) by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown. Acoustic version can be found [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I9wwbLtVCk). When writing it, I imagined Tsukki singing Jordin's parts and Akiteru doing Chris'.


	2. Meeting an Idol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: because we don't know Tsukishima's Father, I just threw a random Japanese given name in from a list (Haruhiko)

Saturday morning came quickly, and the first thing Kuroo did was check his phone. He scrolled numbly through his Twitter notifications with a sigh, ignoring most of them.  
_KurooJams is nowhere near as good as this guy._  
_KurooJams dude just give up now; you’re going nowhere_  
_Can’t believe I just wasted four minutes of my life listening to KurooJams cover of Hellyeah. The original is way be_ tter.  
  
Kuroo rolled his eyes and closed Twitter, heading onto the YouTube app. His subscription tab had a red bubble on it, and Kuroo immediately clicked onto it. There were four updates sitting there.  
  
Kaash Kaash Tunes had finally uploaded his new remix, a mash up of _Heathens_ by twenty one pilots and _Carousel_ by Melanie Martinez. Not really his kind of music but he’d chill to it later and see what it was about.  
Kaash Kaash Tunes was a remix channel, run by another high school student – Akaashi Keiji. He was a second year at Fukuroudani Academy. Kuroo had met Akaashi a few times, and had even laid down some rhythms for a few of his own tracks, but they’d never exclusively collaborated. It was something a lot of their subscribers were looking forward to, but neither student seemed to care too much for it.  
There was nothing against either of them – Akaashi just didn’t really enjoy remixing rock and metal music, and Kuroo didn’t really enjoy playing pop and dance songs. Maybe one day they’d find something the could work on together but until then, Kuroo was more than happy laying down the riffs for a few of Akaashi’s remixes.  
  
The second upload was from Awa Awa; another student singer, this one from Aoba Johsai. His name was Oikawa Tooru, and Kuroo thought he was a right prick. He was too far up his own ass, way too over the top and an annoyingly good singer. Okay, so he wasn’t really a prick. He was a good guy, played volleyball pretty well and brought the best out of the Aoba Johsai team, but he was still over the top and his slightly feminine singing voice went right through Kuroo.  
All his covers and original songs were posted with a cringey music video with too much complicated dancing and a very pissed off guy with black hair in most of the shots. A vlog explained that the black haired guy was Iwaizumi Hajime, a childhood friend who was meant to stop Oikawa going too far with his videos. Kuroo had snorted. Iwaizumi needed to do a better job.  
The other thing that pissed Kuroo off about Oikawa was his subscriber count. He had closed to 1000 after only starting a year after Kuroo. Still, Oikawa was a good singer and had subscribed to Kuroo a while ago. Kuroo had mutually subscribed. They’d followed each other on Twitter and had a small discussion here and there, but nothing really came from it other than _is YouTube letting you upload? Nah, me neither._  
The upload was his cover of another Lady GaGa song where his outfit screamed _over the top_. Kuroo decided to leave that till later too.  
  
The third update was from a good friend of Kuroo’s, Bokuto Koutarou. He was a third year at Fukuroudani Academy and was often seen in the music videos on Akaashi’s channel. Owl Owl Owl was a mixed channel and Kuroo couldn’t believe it when he first stumbled across it, hidden amongst the recommended channels on Akaashi’s channel.  
Bokuto was an amazing drummer; his covers of Metallica, The Rolling Stones and other classic rock bands had Kuroo subscribing almost straight away. When he uploaded his usual weekly video, Kuroo had almost died.  
Bokuto had filmed himself blowing up watermelons in various ways, and ranking the mess and the explosion of the fruit itself – and Kuroo just didn’t know how to react. It was awesome, but really, he thought it was a one off video. Then more and more became uploaded and then Kuroo found a playlist of all his explosion videos when they started the week after his channel had been created.  
Kuroo had appeared in a few of his videos, screaming and chasing Bokuto when an exploding passion fruit had been aimed directly at Kuroo. They were due to do a music collaboration that weekend for Kuroo’s channel and he was excited – Bokuto was surely the best drummer he knew.  
  
The last video uploaded from the night, was, to Kuroo’s surprise, Tsukki Sings. Tsukki had explicitly said in a vlog at the start of the school year that he would upload no more than once a week and he had kept to it religiously. Here was the second upload of the week, and Kuroo wondered why that had changed suddenly. He stared at the video thumbnail _Stressed Out (twenty one pilots) Cover – ft. Akiteru and Haruhiko – Music Video_  
  
Kuroo quickly got up and showered before dressing. Then, he plugged his headphones in and set the video to play as he sat on his bed.

 

***

 

 

The video started with Tsukki and his brother standing by a creek as the sun was starting to set; the only sounds that could be heard was the rushing water of the creek, and the occasional bird that was still awake. The music started rather suddenly and it cut to Tsukki walking down a street, rapping the lyrics.  
  
He was in casual clothing – or rather, smart casual. A plaid button up shirt, trousers and what looked like Converse – one of the big shoe companies in America. His hands made motions as he rapped, and Kuroo smiled softly.  
  
The music stopped and it cut to Tsukki and his brother sitting by the creek, doing a handshake they must have made when they were younger. They hugged and then the video cut to a black and white table cloth.  
  
_Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days_  
  
A Polaroid photo of what must have been a young Tsukki and his brother on Christmas Day, laughing around their presents whilst their Mother smiled and encouraged them to open more.  
  
_When our Mama sang us to sleep, but now we’re stressed out_  
  
Another Polaroid; Tsukki was hugging his Mother on what must have been his first day of junior high. Another one faded in, his Father standing proudly by Tsukki’s side as he beamed in his new uniform, throwing a peace sign at the camera.  
  
_Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days_  
  
A small montage of Polaroid photos of Tsukki and his brother, playing volleyball together, throwing a ball back and forth in the garden.  
  
_When our Mama sang us to sleep, but now we’re stressed out_  
  
Tsukki and his Mother sat on the porch of their house, staring up at the stars, cuddled together. Akiteru and their Father in the same position. Tsukki and Akiteru were holding hands. It looked like the perfect family photo.  
  
The video cut once again to the creek, where Akiteru was now leaning against a tree as he took up the second verse of the song. A verse about being younger, a smell making him nostalgic and another one of how his brother were the same, growing up just away from the creek they used to roam – Kuroo assumed it was the one they were sat at now.  
  
He smiled a little as the video faded in and out, Akiteru now sat at the bottom of the tree, his arms around Tsukki who was cuddled up to his brother’s chest, eyes closed.  
  
The chorus came again, and there was another Polaroid montage – Tsukki holding up his final test grades with a big smile on his face whilst his brother hugged him from behind. Akiteru and Tsukki running across a field together with a dog and a man and woman Kuroo didn’t recognise. From the resemblance of the man to them, he assumed this was an uncle or another brother. Another Polaroid of Tsukki and his Mother baking what looked like Halloween cookies, and then another one of Akiteru and Tsukki throwing flour at each other.  
  
The real time Tsukki appeared back in front of the camera, looking back at his brother, sitting at the bottom of the tree.  
  
_We used to play pretend, give each other different names,_  
_We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away,_  
_Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face,_  
_Saying, "Wake up, you need to go study."_  
_Yo._

It cut to the brother’s again, this time Akiteru standing in front of the camera, looking back at Tsukki sitting at the edge of the creek.  
  
_We used to play pretend, give each other different names,_  
_We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away,_  
_Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face,_  
_Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money."_  
_Yo._

  
The chorus came once more, and there was yet another montage of photos – Tsukki playing volleyball in a team uniform. A picture sat next to it of Akiteru and his Mother cheering proudly. Akiteru hugging his brother tightly as he held up an acceptance letter – Karasuno. Tsukki smiling with his Mother as they sat at the table, laughing about something. Tsukki and his Father waiting outside at the cinema together – a clock in the background said 11.58pm and Kuroo realised that Tsukki had gotten his Father to take him to a midnight viewing of a film about dinosaurs.  
  
The smooth voices of Tsukki and Akiteru disappeared as they were both shown walking down the street, just like at the start of the video. Akiteru was in similar clothes to Tsukki and now a deep voice that Kuroo recognised as Tsukki’s Father cut through the video.  
  
_Used to play pretend, used to play pretend, bunny_  
_We used to play pretend, wake up, you need the money_  
_Used to play pretend, used to play pretend, bunny_  
_We used to play pretend, wake up, you need the money_  
_We used to play pretend, give each other different names,_  
_We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away,_  
_Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face,_  
_Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money."_  
_Yo._  
  
The music stopped and faded to black.

 

***

 

Kuroo waited patiently for the video to fade into a black and white portrait of Tsukki, holding up a peace sign as he usually did. It held for a few seconds and then it started moving.  
  
“Hey guys! I’m excited to share this with you all – this is the channel’s first music video! I got a lot of people asking me what it was like growing up in Miyagi and some people asking what it was like to grow up with my brother and things like that so this idea was growing for a while. It took me quite a long time to get this done – I think the first request for something like this came about… four or five months ago?”  
  
Tsukki blushed at the camera and rubbed the back of his neck, smiling a little.  
  
“I normally get on top of requests as soon as I can – I think I have about seven or eight requests currently scheduled on the channel for posting in the coming months, but I couldn’t wait for you to all see this one. It’s currently 3am, and I’ve stayed up all night editing this and getting the fading right and everything… Be nice to me this is the first time I’ve edited a music video!”  
  
Tsukki stuck his tongue out at the camera and Kuroo find himself smiling. _Adorable, as usual_.  
  
“So anyway, it’s 3am and I need to get to bed because I have a volleyball practice match tomorrow and I have to be up at 7am… This is going to be a fun day. If you wanna request something, you can drop a comment or send me a Tweet; at TsukkiSings! Hashtag it with #TsukkiRequest and I’ll have a look through them. Please do subscribe to the channel if you like what I’m doing and I’ll see you guys on Sunday with a new vlog!”  
  
Tsukki threw up another peace sign at the camera, and then it faded to black and the video ended.  
  
Kuroo smiled softly and put his phone away before he grabbed his bag and volleyball gear. No one in his house was awake yet so he stumbled out silently and locked the door.  
  
Today was going to be a good day.

 

-xox-

 

Kuroo could barely stop himself bouncing up and down when they got told that the Karasuno bus had got there. He was tilting back and forth on his heels, earning a look from Kozume.  
  
“How excited are you to meet this guy?”  
  
“I do not have words to describe it.”  
  
“That’s because you have barely any words.”  
  
Kuroo stopped rocking on his heels for a moment to glare at Kozume and opened his mouth to reply when the sound of footsteps walking into the gymnasium caught his attention. He couldn’t help but stare – he’d always thought Tsukki was rather attractive, but seeing him in real life, seeing him up close… He was even more amazing.  
  
Tsukki stumbled a little, hid a yawn behind his hand and then looked down as someone next to him started talking – Kuroo remembered him from a recent vlog. Yamaguchi?  
  
Tsukki was definitely much taller than his videos gave him credit. His hair was much brighter, his eyes even more golden… and they were glaring.  
  
Kuroo jumped, realising he had been caught staring. Tsukki rolled his eyes and looked away, his shoulders hunched. Kuroo looked away, blushing a little bit.  
  
Kozume nudged him with a smirk. Kuroo glared. Karasuno Volleyball Club went to go get changed.

 

-xox-

 

Finally, finally, after the orange haired shrimp – Kuroo thought he heard him be called Hinata – stopped demanding more games, both volleyball teams leaned over, panting hard. Kuroo gulped water from his water bottle. He was leant against the wall, breathing heavily whilst trying to pull air into his lungs and calm his breaths.  
  
Kuroo wanted to go home, to collapse in bed, but he knew he had to stay behind, help the team clean up; give them a talk and review their performance. His eyes found Tsukki in the crowd of the Karasuno team; Yamaguchi was wiping his neck free of sweat and then Tsukki’s eyes met Kuroo’s again.  
  
Kuroo felt himself blush and he took a breath, considering his options. Their team talk with their coach was over and they were only talking amongst themselves, and from the shouts he could hear from Hinata and… the other shrimp, it didn’t sound like team talk. He hesitated, and then he started walking over to the group. Tsukki saw him immediately and stared at the floor, busying himself with tying his shoelace, even though he would be taking it off in a moment.  
  
“Hey-”  
  
“I’m not doing a fan thing here.”  
  
Kuroo blinked a little. “I was hoping I could have a word with you in private about the game, actually.”  
  
Tsukki squinted at him. The silver-haired one that had posted the selfie with Tsukki those months ago, nudged him, winking at him. Tsukki rolled his eyes and got up, letting Kuroo lead him over a little way away from the Karasuno team.  
  
Kuroo took a breath. “Okay so I kind of lied, it is about YouTube but I _promise_ this is not a fan thing.”  
  
Tsukki pushed his glasses up his nose, making a soft _tch_ noise in his throat. “You have one minute.”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“Fifty seven seconds.” Tsukki’s golden brown eyes stared into Kuroo’s and he didn’t think he could form words.  
  
“Oh right um… Okay so I sort of just wanted to thank you. I saw the very first video you posted with your brother; I think it was called No Air or something? Anyway, I saw it on Twitter about a year after I quit trying to do my own YouTube channel, and your video actually inspired me to go back to covering songs and writing music and I wanted to thank you for that. Your channel has been a huge inspiration in the past year for me to keep going with my own channel and I… I was wondering… I know you’ve said you don’t do collaborations with other channels, only your family and people that you’re comfortable with, like the volleyball team, and you never know unless you ask-”  
  
“-Five seconds.”  
  
“WouldYouWannaDoACollaborationWithMe?”  
  
Kuroo tripped over his own words in his rush to say everything in five seconds and then stared at Tsukki.  
  
The singer’s face was unreadable, not a hint of emotion in his eyes – oh those eyes. Kuroo felt like he was drowning as they stared into his, pulling him further and further down.  
  
“What’s your channel name?”  
  
“KurooJams.”  
  
Tsukki tilted his head and Kuroo tried to figure out what was going on in his head.  
  
“I’ll check your channel out tonight when I get home, and I’ll make a decision then. You have a Twitter account, yes?”  
  
Kuroo nodded. “I think we’ve been tagged in a few tweets together, people asking us for a collaboration.  
  
Tsukki lifted his head up and gave a weak smile – that Kuroo wasn’t sure if it _was_ a smile.  
  
“It’s… it’s actually really nice to hear that my channel and singing has inspired people, even if that’s one person.” Tsukki smiled down at the floor, apparently a little embarrassed, as he was blushing. “Thank you, really.”  
  
“I really loved the music video you posted last night… it was really sweet, and I think it was great you made it a duet with your brother.”  
  
Tsukki smiled again and then turned to face his team as they called for him.  
  
“I have to leave; we’ve got to catch the bullet train. Thank you...”  
  
Kuroo blinked and then realised, offering his hand. “Kuroo Tetsurou.”  
  
“Tsukishima Kei.” Tsukki shook the guitarist’s hand with a smile and then disappeared back to his team.  
  
Kuroo stared after him, wondering why his heart was beating so quickly in his chest and why his palms were so sweaty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The remix mentioned that Akaashi uploaded is [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qx4_hspWFk) Nightcore mash up and honestly one of my faves I've ever come across.


	3. Tsukishima Kei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so yes, Tsukishima is autistic in this fiction and this chapter is a basic summary to that before it's a recurring theme within the rest of the fiction.
> 
> Sensory overload and stimming explained in the notes at the end of the chapter.
> 
> I would like to openly mention that I have Asperger's, which is on the autistic scale, and that writing this is a sort of 'therapy' for me. If you're ableist (discriminatory towards those with disabilities) in any way what so ever, I will be reporting you to AO3.  
> I'm kind of hoping I might be able to help educate some people on what living with autism and autism spectrum syndromes is like, and also Tsukishima actually portrays quite a few autistic traits, so I'm indulging myself a little here.
> 
> I'm also hoping to give other autistic and Asperger's Syndrome Haikyuu!! fans a little bit of validation and representation.
> 
> Enjoy~

Getting home that day grated on Tsukishima’s nerves. He didn’t want to deal with anything; he wasn’t feeling social today. Akiteru was trying to talk desperately to him, and Tsukishima just wouldn’t take his headphones off. He’d picked up the words _the cover went down great!_ and saw his brother give him a thumbs up. Tsukishima managed a slightly awkward smile before he disappeared upstairs.  
  
Tsukishima had been seven years old when he’d been diagnosed with high functioning autism; a social disorder that made him mostly socially inept. Of course, it didn’t affect him all the time, but right now, he was having a hard time dealing with the amount of being social involved in… well being a human.  
  
His conversation with Kuroo earlier had worn him out and he hadn’t really wanted to talk to him, knowing he wasn’t feeling up to it, but then Sugawara had gotten involved and well. Sugawara always seemed to know what conversations that Tsukishima should have. Despite the conversation completely exhausting his social skills, Tsukishima was really glad he’d had it. Except the handshake. It had taken a lot out of him to shake Kuroo’s hand.  
  
Setting himself down at his desk, Tsukishima opened his laptop, positioning it in a perfect parallel line with the sides. He’d done all his homework earlier in the week, and he had his timetable set out to start studying next week. He had the rest of the weekend free, and Tsukishima intended to use it for recording, and catching up on his subscriptions. He remembered that he had to research Kuroo’s channel.  
  
He searched for the channel name, remembering it perfectly and, lo and behold, it was the first thing to pop up. Tsukishima headed onto the channel, and wondered why he was doing this. His autism was the reason he _didn’t_ _do collaborations_ ; he didn’t work well with people, especially those he didn’t know all that well. Akiteru was different; Akiteru was his big brother. He was the one that had introduced Tsukishima to singing, had taught Tsukishima guitar when he was big enough to hold a child’s one. Akiteru had looked after him, and encouraged Tsukishima’s special interest in music and in singing. When other people thought Tsukishima’s special interest in foreign languages, foreign films and foreign music was strange, Akiteru would encourage him all the more, buying him textbooks, films and CDs to study and learn new languages from.  
  
Kuroo Tetsurou was a big, volleyball player with an electric guitar that Tsukishima didn’t know.  
  
There was nothing wrong with looking at his channel and listening to what he did, though. He could give Kuroo feedback on his thoughts and then make up some form of excuse – _sorry, I have to study_. That seemed a good enough excuse and Tsukishima blinked at his laptop screen, having loaded KurooJams.  
  
Tsukishima clicked on videos and then went through them. They were mostly Japanese bands that Tsukishima didn’t really listen to. Eventually, he managed to find a cover of an American band that Tsukishima had heard of. Motionless in White always went down quite well with him, and this was one of their non-screaming songs – he couldn’t handle listening to deathcore right now.  
  
Clicking the video, Tsukishima unplugged his headphones from his phone, plugged them into his laptop, and sat back with his arms crossed over his chest. The normal intro from the song had been changed, a different key, and Tsukishima let out a _tch_ that he didn’t hear. It seemed a short intro than usual, because Kuroo’s voice started singing at 21 seconds into the cover, rather than 31 seconds in.  
  
Tsukishima blinked.  
  
Kuroo was good.  
  
His voice was harsh, raw, and it screamed emotions into the microphone, even if his singing was hushed to fit with the song. His long fingers seemed to dance over his guitar, catching the right notes without even having to look. Even Tsukishima couldn’t do that and he had been playing for close to 10 years now. He blinked and listened. He listened and blinked.  
  
Tsukishima just couldn’t wrap his head around how beautiful Kuroo’s voice was, just how… he seemed to be opening his heart out into the song. Tsukishima looked away.  
  
He wished he could do that.  
  
Tsukishima clicked the subscribe button, and then shifted in his seat. He brought his knees up to his chest, his feet digging into the edge of his chair. His chin rested on his knees, and he stared at his laptop screen, watching Kuroo’s face as he sung.  
  
_Now the sk-y is on fire and we lie wi-de awake_  
  
Tsukishima picked up the cracks in Kuroo’s voice the moment he made them and wrinkled his nose, letting out another _tch_. He caught himself, and told himself to stop judging – not everyone had sung most of their life, not everyone could keep some notes going in their throats, some people recorded when they had throat infections.  
  
The song ended and Tsukishima waited for the closing video of Kuroo talking to the viewers – and then the video box popped up with suggested videos. Anxiety flared up in Tsukishima’s mind and he hastily clicked on his subscriptions box before opening a Twitter tab. He didn’t want to do this; he was drained, and he wanted to sit and watch videos.  
  
Sighing heavily, he searched for KurooJ in the Twitter search bar, and his account popped up before he even hit search. Tsukishima clicked on the account and waited for it to open. He blinked. It was really bright, and it was really red. Really bright red. Tsukishima squinted his eyes and clicked the follow button before returning to his own notifications page.  
  
He’d skim through them in a moment.  
  
Opening his direct messages, Tsukishima selected Kuroo to send a new message to and then hesitated, staring at the keyboard. Words escaped him and he whined softly, scrunching his hands up in his too big hoodie that he didn’t remember changing into. He buried himself in the familiar scent of _comfort_ and rubbed his eyes with the balls of his palms. He rubbed until he saw stars and then he balled his hands back into fists, resting them on his knees.  
  
Tsukishima decided a message could wait a little while until he felt a little bit better.  
  
He flicked back to the YouTube tab, and started scrolling, skimming. His heart warmed when he saw that Kaash Kaash Tunes had released a new remix – and of two of his favourite American singers as well. He smiled contently and was about to click on the video, when the one above it caught his eye.  
  
Awa Awa had already published a video this week, on Friday night. He had sung a rendition of Lady Gaga’s _Fashion_  – and stumbling over most of the words and the French so horrendously, Tsukishima had to turn it off – so why was there a video above Kaash Kaash? He scrolled up and immediately start breathing heavily when he’d seen Oikawa had done his usual trick – done an upbeat happier cover of _Stressed Out_.  
  
Oikawa did this every single time Tsukishima uploaded a video, ever since he had subscribed six months ago. It stressed Tsukishima out, and before he realised what was happening, he was leant over his desk, the palm of his hand smacking repeatedly on his forehead.  
  
Tsukishima couldn’t breathe right. He hated Oikawa, he hated his upbeat covers and he hated his one thousand subscribers. His leg was shaking anxiously, stimming his body and then a hand closed around his wrist.  
  
Unable to move his hand, Tsukishima’s head shot up in a panic, only to find Akiteru frowning worriedly down at him. His brother leant down, wrapping his arms around Tsukishima and Tsukishima buried his face in his brother’s neck.  
  
Akiteru always made Tsukishima feel better; he was a comfort, always having been there. A hand ran gently through his hair, nails scratching his scalp ever so softly, and Tsukishima found his breathing levelling out quickly. There was no sound around them, the only thing Tsukishima could hear around his noise-cancelling headphones was Akiteru’s breathing; could feel it tickling the top of his head.  
  
“Breathe, Kei, breathe.”  
  
His breathing got better; he inhaled stronger breaths.  
  
Akiteru moved away and Tsukishima watched him cross the room. He picked up the small black and orange dinosaur plush off the bed where it sat proudly on the pillows and brought it over. Tsukishima took it with shaking hands, hugging it close. The texture was fading, fraying in places and he’d have to give it to his mother soon to sew Rex back up. Right now wasn’t that time though, and his fingers found the familiar tail that was smooth from Tsukishima rubbing it so constantly.  
  
Akiteru pulled a spare chair up, making sure to lift it and set it down gently, trying not to make too much noise. Tsukishima leaned onto his brother’s shoulder. Closing his eyes, he curled up as tightly as he could in the awkward position, and Akiteru wrapped his arms around his brother. Tsukishima was vaguely aware that this position must be straining his brother’s shoulders, and his heart throbbed with love; a rare occurrence in recent weeks.  
  
“I got you some food, and an Irish coffee.”  
  
Tsukishima perked up a tiny bit. He liked Irish coffee; he liked the bitterness and the strange tastes that ran across his tongue, and he liked the little burn as he swallowed the first few mouthfuls.  
  
“You alright, now, Kei?”  
  
Tsukishima made a noise in the back of his throat and slowly sat up, not letting Rex move from where he was pressed into his cheek. Akiteru lifted the hot cup of coffee and held it for Tsukishima.  
  
Tsukishima was grateful that he’d remembered a straw; straws let Tsukishima drink without fear of spilling it down himself. He took a few sips and then leant back in his chair, Rex still tight in his arms.  
  
“He did-did it again.”  
  
Akiteru sighed and immediately moved to the laptop, clicking onto Kaash Kaash Tune’s channel.  
  
“Pop a remix on and relax, alright? You’re a much better singer than He is; you’ll catch up to him.”  
  
“Tch.”  
  
Akiteru rubbed his brother’s leg. “Do you want me to stay?”  
  
Tsukishima leaned forward, trying to stop his leg from shaking and his foot tapping the floor. He sipped another sip of coffee. He leaned back.  
  
“Can you help-help me write a me-message?”  
  
Akiteru rubbed his brother’s back and leaned in closer, nodding. “Course, Kei.”  
  
Tsukishima pointed with a shaking hand to the Twitter tab and Akiteru clicked it.  
  
“I’m just going to move your laptop so I can type, and then you can set it back up how you like it when I’m done, alright?”  
  
Tsukishima winced but nodded, biting on the inside of his cheek as it was moved out of alignment.  
  
“KurooJams, right?”  
  
Tsukishima nodded. “I like his- his voice.”  
  
Akiteru typed quickly, fingers almost flying across the keyboard and then looked back up. “He’s got-got good guitar skills and I like- like how he-he does his covers.”  
  
Akiteru nodded again and continued writing before looking up at Tsukishima again.  
  
“I like his channel and I-I want to collab-collabor- collab with him at some- some point.”  
  
Akiteru raised an eyebrow. “You sure, Kei?”  
  
Tsukishima nodded weakly. “He’ll have- have to come to Mi-Miy- come here though.”  
  
Akiteru blinked a little, as if he were wondering if it was a bad idea, but then turned his attention back to typing. “Is that all?”  
  
Tsukishima nodded and Akiteru hit enter. He set the laptop back as well as he could. Tsukishima’s hand reached out to straighten it. Rex slipped down his chest, only for Akiteru to catch him and replace him in the spot between Tsukishima’s hand and shoulder.  
  
Tsukishima smiled, and then reached for a lollipop on the tray his brother had brought upstairs.  
  
“You want me to leave?”  
  
Tsukishima hesitated and then nodded softly, managing to unwrap the small ball of sugar with his teeth before immediately popping it in his mouth.  
  
“Try and get some sleep, you know you’ll only be worse if you’re too tired.”  
  
Tsukishima nodded; he knew that he was overtired and it was probably the most cause of him being inept today, and then all the noise at volleyball hadn’t helped, and Kuroo's Twitter page had been really bright and had sparked an assault on his eyes, and then He had sparked the anxiety and – Tsukishima sighed and rubbed his nose on Rex’s fabric, smiling at the familiar scent.  
  
He glanced at his computer screen, and frowned a little seeing that there was no reply from Kuroo yet. Tsukishima set his lolly back on the tray and then sat up, feet flat on the ground. He turned his laptop screen to fully dark, and then sat Rex on top of his keyboard. He drunk the rest of the coffee and then placed down the empty cup, pointing the handle to the right.  
  
Tsukishima struggled the wrapper back onto the lolly and then stood. His hand wrapped around Rex’s chest. He headed to the bathroom and timed himself, brushing his teeth for two minutes and seven seconds exactly, and then returned to his room. He slipped a pair of socks on and then closed is laptop down. His phone went on charge. Rex got set up on his pillows. Tsukishima got under his covers and wiggled his toes.  
  
Yawning, having happily completed his routine, Tsukishima fell asleep easily, a hand holding Rex protectively to his chest.

 

-xox-

 

Tsukishima woke up in a good mood. He yawned and stretched and gave Rex a cuddle before going about his morning routine. He put his glasses on and sat up, then had four sips of water from his water bottle. He checked his text messages and then went downstairs for breakfast.  
  
“Good to see you in good spirits.”  
  
Tsukishima smiled over at his brother as he made his morning coffee, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I had a good nights rest.”  
  
Akiteru smiled and nodded. “That’s good, I’m glad you did.”  
  
Tsukishima smiled again and then turned back to his coffee. He poured it when the kettle boiled and he stirred his coffee eight times exactly and then took a sip before it stopped spinning around his mug.  
  
“You spending today recording?"  
  
“Mhmmmm.” Tsukishima turned around to watch his brother, smiling. Sunday’s were the only day Akiteru got off work, and Tsukishima felt slightly guilty for not spending more time with him, but he knew Akiteru understood.  
  
“Do you need me for anything?”  
  
Tsukishima tilted his head and pursed his lips as he thought. “Can you get my comfort blanket? I think Mom washed it last night, it’s on the line… I think.”  
  
Akiteru smiled and got up from where he sat, heading to the garden. Tsukishima looked through the cupboards and grabbed his usual breakfast biscuits and then disappeared to the stairs and his room.  
  
He stretched out and then settled at his desk, opening his laptop. Tsukishima aligned it to be parallel with his desk edges. He had three mouthfuls of coffee whilst he waited for it to switch on and then immediately opened Twitter. There was a direct message from Kuroo and Tsukishima had another mouthful of coffee before he opened it to read.  
  
_REALLY?_  
  
Tsukishima flinched and made a _tch_ noise in his throat. He took a breath. He continued reading.  
  
_That’s amazing! I honestly never thought you’d want to do a collaboration with me! Thank you for the kind words, they do mean a lot. I can definitely come to Miyagi! When are you thinking?_  
  
Tsukishima took another sip of coffee. Fur was suddenly around his shoulders and he looked up at Akiteru.  
  
“… sound good?”  
  
Tsukishima blinked.  
  
“Kei, did you do the thing where you don’t listen unless someone says your name first?”  
  
Tsukishima shrugged. “I think so.”  
  
Akiteru smiled and leant on the desk. “Kei, I said maybe we could go to the cinema later today. Maybe see that film you’ve been looking forward to since the first trailer and then maybe get dinner, if you’re feeling up to it?”  
  
Tsukishima considered. He did feel up to it, but he wanted to spend some time recording and he glanced at his microphone, set up on his desk.  
  
“Kei, if you want to spend the day editing and recording, that’s fine by me. Just make sure you don’t get too carried away and miss things in your routine.”  
  
Akiteru ran his hand through Tsukishima’s hair, messing it up. Tsukishima made another _tch_ voice in his throat and straightened it back out. “What will you do though?”  
  
“I can catch up on some television. I need to refill the cupboards too, so I might go shopping.”  
  
Tsukishima nodded. “What time does Mom finish work today?”  
  
“Around 10pm. You’ll be in bed by the time she gets home, Kei.”  
  
Tsukishima pouted and then Akiteru stood. “I’m gonna head to the shops. Text me if you need me, alright?”  
  
Tsukishima nodded and his brother disappeared back downstairs. Tsukishima rearranged his comfort blanket around his shoulders and returned to the direct message from Kuroo.  
  
**TsukkiSings:** _Is it alright if I just message you on a Friday and let you know if that weekend if good for me?_  
  
**KurooJams:** _Course it is! Just let me know!_  
  
**TsukkiSings:** _Thank you_  
  
Tsukishima closed the chat and Twitter and then opened up his recording application and set his microphone up. He looked through the lists of requests he’d had in the past few weeks – the ones that had quirked his interests and made him ponder on the possibilities.  
  
Tsukishima would save anything with a heavy beat for a little while, later in the day when he was at his full potential. His foot padded on the floor, making him smile unconsciously as he neatly highlighted the four songs he would record and edit that morning, before he went for his lunch at 11.37. After lunch, he’d work on a Japanese lyrics video for _Stressed Out_ so that the majority of his subscribers could understand it.  
  
Tsukishima arranged his webcam so it sat on top of his laptop, selected his usual pair of white earphones and cleared his throat. He picked his guitar up and set it out on his lap and then hit record.  
  
“Hey guys! I’m TsukkiSings and this is an acoustic cover of an American band – Motionless in White. This song is called _Sinematic_...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Stimming** \- Self-stimulatory behavior, also known as stimming and self-stimulation, is the repetition of physical movements, sounds, or repetitive movement of objects common in individuals with developmental disabilities, but most prevalent in people with autistic spectrum disorders. Common stimming behaviors (sometimes called stims) include hand flapping, rocking, head banging, repeating noises or words, snapping fingers, and spinning objects. Stimming is almost always a symptom of autism, but it is also regarded as part of some non-autistic individuals' behavioral patterns. Stimming can, in some cases, be a self-injurious behavior. Common forms of these behaviors include head-banging, hand-biting, and excessive self-rubbing and scratching.
> 
>  **Sensory Overload** \- Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the body's senses experiences over-stimulation from the environment. There are many environmental elements that impact an individual. Examples of these elements are urbanization, crowding, noise, mass media, technology, and the explosive growth of information.  
>  Sensory overload can result from the overstimulation of any of the senses:
> 
> Hearing: Loud noise or sound from multiple sources, such as several people talking at once or a loud fire alarm.  
> Sight: Crowded or cluttered spaces, bright lights, strobing lights, or environments with lots of movement such as crowds or frequent scene changes on television.  
> Smell and taste: Strong aromas or spicy foods.  
> Touch: Tactile sensations such as being touched by another person or the feel of cloth on skin.
> 
>  
> 
> _All information taken directly from wikipedia, copied and pasted._


	4. Enemies

Oikawa stared at the channel in front of him, hands in front of his face. They were crossed, resting against his Cupid’s bow as he stared. He stared and stared. He flicked to the Twitter page. There was nothing.  
  
“Tooru, are you still brooding?”  
  
“He hasn’t said anything!”  
  
“Because he’s more mature than you.” The huffed reply had Oikawa turning away from his laptop, mouth open in mock horror.  
  
“So mean, Iwa-chan!”  
  
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and sighed heavily before sitting up. “Why do you have this damn rivalry with Tsukki anyway? It’s not like he’s ever responded to any of your challenges. He’s just living his life and working on his channel.”  
  
Oikawa stayed silent.  
  
Iwaizumi frowned and finally said what he had been thinking since the video upload yesterday. “You know that must have really hurt him, if he realised what you’ve been doing? His music video to _Stressed Out_ obviously meant a lot to him and you did some cheap remix of it just to spite him.”  
  
Oikawa sighed heavily. “I just… he’s better than me Iwa-chan! In every way possible!”  
  
“Maybe if you spent more time studying English rather than slacking off in class, you’d be at his level.”  
  
“No, no. There’s something he’s done that makes him so good at it. He can speak French and English almost fluently! There has to be something he’s doing!”  
  
“Maybe he lived over there for some time; will you just stop? Leave Tsukki alone, Tooru. He just wants to make music. He doesn’t even do collabs. He’s obviously content with what he’s doing.”  
  
“I’m going to lose subscribers to him!”  
  
Iwaizumi sighed heavily and patted the bed where he was laying. Oikawa pouted, but gladly moved over to curl up next to his boyfriend. They lay in silence before Iwaizumi kissed Oikawa’s forehead gently.  
  
“You have to leave Tsukki alone-”  
  
“-He’s arrogant!”  
  
“You’re blinding yourself with jealously. He’s nothing of the sort, Oikawa.” Iwaizumi sighed heavily. “He’s a good kid who just likes singing. He pours his heart into his channel, and it’s not fair that you’re constantly baiting him with a bunch of crap remixed covers.”  
  
Oikawa sighed and rubbed his face. “Fine, I’ll leave the kid alone; but if he baits me, I’m going right back for it.”  
  
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. “Fine, I think that’s fair enough.”  


 

-xox-

 

Apparently, Oikawa didn’t have to wait long to go back on his promise to Iwaizumi.  
  
“Iwa-chan!”  
  
It was 10pm on a Monday night, and Oikawa was just going through his Twitter notifications before he went to bed, when they had blown up. He’d refreshed the page, blinking out of confusion, when he saw the content.  
  
_@AwaAwa have u seen Tsukki’s tweet???  
@TsukkiSings just challenged @AwaAwa?? This is gonna be the best YouTube rivalry ever!  
@AwaAwa is gonna own @TsukkiSings and we all know it!!_

 

Oikawa hesitated before he clicked on Tsukki’s handle on someone’s tweet, opening the page. There, right at the top, was a tweet for Tsukki’s YouTube, a video just posted.  
  
_You’re_ _On  
  
_ Oikawa jogged Iwaizumi where he was laying, half asleep, and Iwaizumi groaned as he opened his eyes.  
  
“What the hell do you want, Tooru?”  
  
“Tsukki!”  
  
Iwaizumi knew he wasn’t going back to sleep before Tooru got what he wanted and groaned, sitting up. Oikawa was already clicking on his laptop screen, opening the video.   
  
It started with the usual black and white image of Tsukki holding up a peace sign over his mouth, eyes closed behind his glasses. It faded into a colour image of Tsukki wrapped up in a too big hoodie. Oikawa noticed a bruise on his forehead and found himself wondering where it had come from.  
  
“So, as a lot of people have pointed out on my channel and in tweets, there is a certain someone trying to bait me. They have constantly tried to outdo me with their raucous, cheesy remixes – and might I add, stumbling over the English _horribly_. They’ve been doing this for about six months now, ever since we became mutual subscribers. They also can’t sing in French try as they might and it ruins the video. Proof being where they got more dislikes on a video than likes and took it down after three days for fear of it ruining his channel.”  
  
Oikawa glared darkly at his laptop screen.  
  
“I’m sure by now that some of you will have figured out that I am, of course, talking about Oikawa Tooru; the singer behind Awa Awa.”   
  
Tsukki shifted forward to clear his throat and there was a slight tapping sound in the background. Annoying.  
  
“Oikawa; if you’re so desperate to prove yourself the better singer, then I am challenging you. After this, whatever this ridiculous rivalry is, is gone. Whoever wins, wins and remains the better singer until proven otherwise or until another ‘rivalry game’,” Tsukki paused for his long, slender fingers to make quotation marks in the air. “Is arranged between us both.”  
  
Oikawa glanced at Iwaizumi, who had his eyebrow raised.  
  
“The challenge consists simply of this. Five weeks. Four weeks of singing Japanese songs – fully clothed, without music videos, focusing solely on the vocal talent. The last week will be a song in English. No collaborations. The one who gets the most likes is the winner. It’s that simple. After those five weeks, as I said before, it’s _over_.”  
  
Tsukki ran a hand through his hair.  
  
“Take my challenge, or leave it. It’s simple as that; but it’s time to show the internet you’re mature – because, even as my elder, you could have fooled me.”  
  
Tsukki threw a peace sign up at the camera, blew a kiss from the side of it, and then the video ended.  
  
Oikawa stared at the video, now suggesting some of Tsukki’s other videos, and breathed heavily. “He has the audacity-”  
  
“He’s right.”  
  
Iwaizumi lay back down and rolled over to have his back to Oikawa. Oikawa jabbed him with his knee, scowling a little as he turned back to his laptop.  
  
“Should I take him on?”  
  
“I thought you said if he baited you, you’d take it.”  
  
“That was before I knew he would bait me!”  
  
Iwaizumi chuckled darkly. “Your choice.”  
  
Oikawa stared at the screen again before opening Twitter. It was still open on Tsukki’s page and he hesitated.  
  
“Fuck it.”  
  
He quoted the tweet, sharing the link to _‘You’re On’_ and typed two words.  
  
_Challenge Accepted_.

 

-xox-

 

Tsukishima hadn’t been expecting this. He hadn’t been expecting Oikawa to actually accept the challenge, and he was pacing back and forth in front of his desk. If Oikawa had even seen it, he expected it to just be dismissed; not quoted in front of his 700 followers and accepted.  
  
Tsukishima couldn’t breathe right, and he ran a hand through his hair. Slowly, he sunk onto his bed, his hand finding Rex to hug to his chest.  
  
He couldn’t take Oikawa on like this; he had more subscribers, he would get more likes on every single video, no matter what he did.  
  
Before Tsukishima could think anything else, the bright chimes of his phone ringing cut through his hearing and he grabbed his phone, answering it.  
  
“First of all, what are you doing up?! You were meant to be in bed an hour ago, Tsukishima!”  
  
Tsukishima winced at Sugawara’s words and sighed a little. “I couldn’t sleep, so Akiteru said I could wait until Dad got home to go to bed.”  
  
Sugawara sighed. “You could have just ended your YouTube career, Tsukishima.”  
  
“It’s not a career! It’s just a hobby I happen to have a special interest in!”   
  
“You’re still kidding yourself. You get tons of money from YouTube, Tsukishima!”  
  
“I _don’t_. It gets paid into Akiteru’s bank and then into mine. I don’t even have access to it yet!”  
  
“And who’s fault is that?”  
  
Tsukishima remembered the time when he was 15, only about fourteen months ago when he had tried to book himself a plane ticket to England, so engrossed in his studies that he just wanted to visit and test his knowledge out. He would have managed to do it, too, if his Dad hadn’t come home early.  
  
There was silence for a while and Tsukishima picked at some fraying threads on Rex’s head.  
  
“We need to sit down and discuss what songs you’re going to do for this challenge.”  
  
“I can pick them myself, Suga-chan.”  
  
Sugawara made a soft humming noise, the sound of food bubbling coming through the phone to Tsukishima.  
  
“True, you know what songs you can sing _but_ you forget. I used to run a fan page for you-”  
  
“-You still do! I saw it on your phone at club the other night!”  
  
“I _used_ to run a fan page for you,” Tsukishima could hear the blush on Sugawara’s cheeks. “and I used to converse with your fans daily. I can bring you a fan perspective to this. I know what people like to see and hear from you, and the things they don’t. The more you cater to your fans during these five weeks, the higher the chance is that you’re going to win, Tsukishima.”  
  
Tsukishima sighed and collapsed on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He hated it when people tried to help him with his YouTube channel. It was his and his alone and he didn’t appreciate it. Well, he appreciated what Sugawara was saying, but at the same time, he didn’t want to like it.  
  
“Maybe we can just plot out some ideas and I can think it all over?”  
  
Sugawara must have realised what Tsukishima was thinking because he cleared his throat. “I’m not trying to take control, I’m sorry, I should have asked rather than dictating.”  
  
“Don’t be sorry; you’re just excited.”  
  
Sugawara made a noise. “I just want to help.”  
  
“I know you do.” Tsukishima didn’t want to be on the phone any more. He hated disembodied voices. “I think Dad just got home so I’m going to go see him and then go to bed.”  
  
“Sleep well, Tsukishima.”  
  
“Thanks, Suga-chan.”  
  
The line went dead and Tsukishima dropped his phone on the bed, staring at the ceiling again. Sugawara was right. If he wanted to win this, he had to cater to what his fans wanted to see. Sighing, he curled himself up in a ball and rubbed his face hard enough to make it burn red.  
  
He didn’t know what to do, and he knew Akiteru was downstairs, watching the video, going to come up any moment…  
  
Tsukishima sat upright and rushed to his laptop, an idea forming in his mind. He opened Twitter and avoided his notifications. Opening the direct messages, he quickly opened his miniscule chat with Kuroo.  
  
_**TsukkiSings:**_ _Hey, are you awake?  
  
__**KurooJams:**_ _Course I am; I have a day off tomorrow so I’m up all night editing and scheduling.  
  
__**TsukkiSings:**_ _Do you have a Skype account? I need to talk to someone about something happening on YouTube and I don’t like not seeing people when I’m talking to them.  
  
_ The speech bubbles popped up and disappeared a few times, and Tsukishima checked the time. It was 10.09pm and his Father would be home in 21 minutes.  
  
_**KurooJams:**_ _KurooTetsu  
  
_ Tsukishima immediately went onto Skype, adding him as a contact and slipping his headphones on. Curling up on the seat in his usual position – feet on the chair, arms around his calves, and his chin on his knees – Tsukishima waited and waited. 10.12pm.  
  
Kuroo added him and before Tsukishima could register anything, a call was coming through. Tsukishima hit answer and blinked.  
  
Kuroo was sat on a bed on his computer screen. His hair was up in a strange ponytail, and Tsukishima wondered how much hair spray it took for Kuroo’s hair to stay up all the time, especially during volleyball. He was wearing a red shirt, and Tsukishima looked at how the sleeves hugged the muscles in his arm. Tsukishima supposed it looked good on him. Kuroo’s eyes were filled with curiosity as he stared at the screen before he cleared his throat.  
  
“What YouTube thing is happening? SITC in England?”  
  
Tsukishima perked up at the other’s words but then shook his head.  
  
“I… I may have challenged Oikawa to a YouTube rivalry battle and I need help picking songs.”  
  
Deep down, a part of him felt bad for asking Kuroo when Sugawara had just offered to help him, but Kuroo had 137 more subscribers than Tsukishima did, so Kuroo must know what he was doing on YouTube.  
  
“You… You challenge Awa Awa?”  
  
Tsukishima nodded. He didn’t know what was so difficult about that sentence to understand.  
  
“Wow, Tsukki.”  
  
“Tsukishima.”  
  
Kuroo raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “When I come down there, we can sit and work with your vocals, yeah? Figure stuff out.”  
  
Tsukishima nodded a little and fiddle with the sleeves of his hoodie. “I was thinking an original song or two?”  
  
Kuroo nodded, immediately perking up. “Your viewers love your original songs, and you’ve got a natural talent for them.”  
  
Tsukishima pulled a face. “I hate writing them.”  
  
“Tell me how this challenge is going.”  
  
“Five weeks, four Japanese songs and then one English song. The person with the most likes over all five videos is the winner and this pathetic rivalry finishes.”  
  
“What rivalry?”  
  
Tsukishima rolled his eyes; this wasn’t why he called. “Every time I post a video he does some upbeat crappy cover of the same song to distract people away from my channel. He’s done this every week for six months since we because mutual subscribers. I had enough and challenged him tonight.”  
  
Kuroo nodded, lost in thought for a moment. “I think if you do your first Japanese song as an original, then do three covers and then do an original English song, I think you might stand a chance to close ranks on him.”  
  
Tsukishima nodded and played with his hoodie sleeves, wishing he could have Rex – but Kuroo didn’t know about Rex even though he was a mascot on Tsukishima’s channel.  
  
“Two original songs, and three covers? That sounds doable.”  
  
“If you need help with melodies for the originals, I know a great guy. He does a remix channel.”  
  
“I know a guy.”  
  
“Who’s yours?”  
  
Tsukishima watched his toes wiggle. “His names Akaashi.”  
  
“Kaash Kaash Tunes?”  
  
Tsukishima looked up, wide eyed. “Yeah, Kaash Kaash. You know him?”  
  
“We’re good friends; he lives in Tokyo. We meet up, him and this YouTube drummer. Owl Owl Owl?”  
  
“I have never heard of that.” Tsukishima wrinkled his nose. What a ridiculous name for a channel.  
  
“He’s a decent guy, we’ve done a few covers together.”  
  
Tsukishima nodded, processing the information. From downstairs, he heard the front door shut, and two male voices drift up the stairs. Tsukishima’s eyes cut across to the time. 10.34pm.  
  
“I have to go, my Dad’s home and I wanna say hi.”  
  
Kuroo nodded. “I’ll help you out with this challenge. Don’t worry.”  
  
Tsukishima tried to smile at the kind smile on his screen, but he could only manage what looked like a grimace. “Thank you, Kuroo.”  
  
“You’re welcome, Tsukishima.”  
  
Without saying goodbye, Tsukishima ended the call and shut his laptop before placing his headphones on top of it. Turning around and grabbing Rex, he rushed downstairs with a smile on his face.  
  
His Father looked up in surprise and then opened his arms to receive the hug that Tsukishima threw himself into.  
  
“Kei! What are you doing up?” His Father returned the hug with strong arms, making Tsukishima squeal in delight. “You were meant to be in bed an hour and a half ago.”  
  
“I couldn’t sleep so Akiteru said I could stay up until you got home!”  
  
His Father glanced over the top of his head, but Tsukishima didn’t care.  
  
“Let’s go cuddle on the couch, hm?”  
  
Tsukishima nodded and untangled himself from his Father, rushing through to the living room. He was perched on the couch when his Father came in a little later, hanging his coat up and getting a drink. He put his drink on the coffee table and then sat next to Tsukishima, who immediately cuddled into his side.  
  
His Father ran his hand through his hair in silence, whilst Akiteru flicked through the television channels.  
  
“You’re gonna be overtired tomorrow, Kei.”  
  
“I know.” He peered up at his Father, pouting. “But I couldn’t sleep.”  
  
His Father pressed a kiss to the top of his head and held him tightly. “Did you try putting your playlist on?”  
  
Tsukishima nodded and closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling of his Father’s hand in his hair, scratching gently at his scalp.  
  
It was his Father that had found that the movements helped calm Tsukishima down, and it was from their Father that Akiteru had learned it from. Tsukishima much preferred it when his Father did it; it wasn’t anything against his big brother, but his Father just knew how to do it _perfectly_.  
  
“How’s school going, Kei?”  
  
“Mm, it’s alright. I passed all my tests this week.”  
  
“That’s good, that’s good. How is volleyball club going?”  
  
“Much better since you spoke to Sawamura-senpai.”  
  
His Father had gone into the club the day after all the noise of the club had caused Tsukishima a sensory overload. He’d sat with Sawamura and Sugawara for most of the club time, giving them the run down of Tsukishima’s bodily cues for when he was about to go into an overload and when he needed a break.   
  
Since then, Sawamura was much better at keeping the club quiet. Tsukishima had told them all in confidence about his autism, and they did what they could do to help him.  
  
“I’m glad it’s getting better for you.”  
  
“Mhm.” Tsukishima was getting sleepy, and quickly. His Father’s hand moving through his hair was a calming movement, and his exhaustion was catching up on him.  
  
Barely able to stay awake, his Father scooped him up, carrying him back upstairs. Tsukishima clung weakly to his Father, unable to keep his eyes open.   
  
“Dad..?”  
  
“Yes, Kei?”  
  
“Will you stay in here tonight?”  
  
“Course I will.”  
  
Tsukishima smiled weakly and then felt his bed underneath him. Yawning, he stretched out before immediately curling up into a ball. His Father pressed Rex into his arms and he cuddled close, his eyes shut tightly.  
  
“Phone...”  
  
His Father shifted around to put Tsukishima’s phone on charge and then got the sleeping bag from under his bed. Tsukishima watched him weakly, and then before he knew it, he was drifting, and the blackness took him.


End file.
